My final fundraiser for my Heart and Stroke Foundation club at York University was yesterday. Art Night, was in partnership with the Winters Community Art Club at York and it was a night of casual painting, drawing, origami and refreshments. Of course, all in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation!

We were very thankful to be sponsored by Starbucks who supplied our guests with hot coffee and Tim Hortons who sponsored with timbits and cookies.

Guests had the opportunity to paint, draw or do origami. Here are pictures from some of the guests!

All the guests enjoyed themselves, and we hope to donate some of the pieces to a heart and stroke ward at a local hospital. Overall, it was a great event to end off the school year! I’m very proud of what HSFYork has accomplished this year. We did a lot of different types of fundraisers this year that really alligned with our mission – to raise money AND awareness for the Heart and Stroke Foundation! Moving forward to next year, I believe HSFYork is stronger than ever and will definitely keep growing!

As a marketing student who is a philanthropist, naturally I keep an eye out for charity marketing campaigns. The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s campaign “Make Death Wait” and “Make Health Last” is my absolute favorite campaign done by a charity. It was done by an ad agency called Lowe Roche (www.loweroche.com).

The campaign launched in February (Heart Month) of 2012 and 2013. Make Death Wait aimed at raising awareness that heart disease and stroke is the number one killer of women and it takes one in three before their time. The second phase of their campaign (Make Health Last), aimed to get Canadians to take action of their future, to prevent them spending their last 10 years in sickness.

I felt that both campaigns did an excellent job in getting Canadians to open their eyes and take control of their futures! The statistics in the campaign really helped convince people that heart disease is an important cause and they should support the Heart and Stroke Foundation!

One of the biggest fundraisers I organize is “Pump Up the Beat”, which is in collaboration with my Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) club at York and the HSF clubs at UofT St. George & Scarborough campuses. This is the second time I’ve organized this fundraiser. It’s a night of performances, silent auction, date auction, games + more. Over the past two years, this event has fundraiser over $1500 and has over 100 attendees!

2013

DJ station on the stage

Audience and room decor

2014

I MC’d this year’s show!

My HSFYork team!

Overall, organizing Pump Up the Beat is a very rewarding experience. It’s great to see everyone come together and having a great time for a great cause! The event was a lot of work and took a lot of dedication, but the end result is worth it.